Production and post house Optimus has added editor Jon Hopp to its roster. Hopp has been expressing his visual creativity through film and photography for over 22 years. After making his mark in Canada, Hopp relocated to Los Angeles where he created editorial shop. He also had tenures at Rock Paper Scissors and Whitehouse Post, cutting commercials for such directors as Erich Joiner (GM/Buick), Mike Maguire (Orbit Gum) and Phil Morrison (Volkswagen) and agencies including Leo Burnett, BBDO Detroit, RPA and Publicis.
After a brief hiatus from editing, Hopp set his sights on returning to the editing suite. He met with Optimus president Tom Duff and EP/managing director Therese Hunsberger to explore opportunities at Optimus’ growing Santa Monica location and felt the company was the ideal fit.
Throughout his career, Hopp has been the recipient of numerous editorial awards including best editing finalist at the London International Awards, best editing at the New York Film Festival Awards and multiple Bessies from the Television Bureau of Canada.
Jennifer Kent On Why Her Feature Directing Debut, “The Babadook,” Continues To Haunt Us
"The Babadook," when it was released 10 years ago, didn't seem to portend a cultural sensation.
It was the first film by a little-known Australian filmmaker, Jennifer Kent. It had that strange name. On opening weekend, it played in two theaters.
But with time, the long shadows of "The Babadook" continued to envelop moviegoers. Its rerelease this weekend in theaters, a decade later, is less of a reminder of a sleeper 2014 indie hit than it is a chance to revisit a horror milestone that continues to cast a dark spell.
Not many small-budget, first-feature films can be fairly said to have shifted cinema but Kent's directorial debut may be one of them. It was at the nexus of that much-debated term "elevated horror." But regardless of that label, it helped kicked off a wave of challenging, filmmaker-driven genre movies like "It Follows," "Get Out" and "Hereditary."
Kent, 55, has watched all of this — and those many "Babadook" memes — unfold over the years with a mix of elation and confusion. Her film was inspired in part by the death of her father, and its horror elements likewise arise out of the suppression of emotions. A single mother (Essie Davis) is struggling with raising her young son (Noah Wiseman) years after the tragic death of her husband. A figure from a pop-up children's book begins to appear. As things grow more intense, his name is drawn out in three chilling syllables — "Bah-Bah-Doooook" — an incantation of unprocessed grief.
Kent recently spoke from her native Australia to reflect on the origins and continuing life of "The Babadook."
Q: Given that you didn't set out to in any way "change" horror, how have you regarded the unique afterlife of "The... Read More